Richardson Chest Fly Boxes

The_Sasquatch

The_Sasquatch

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Location
Malden, WV
Has anyone ever seen these things? They're SWEET! The guy who gave me those glass rods had one. He said he's gonna give it to me some day, but he has some mileage he wants to get out of it yet.

I looked into them online. Way out of my price range. It was one of the collest little systems I've ever seen.
 
I don't have one, or have ever used one, but I know people swear by them. Enjoy it when you get it!
 
I hope I don't get it soon ('cause that means he died!), but man it was slick. I was just wondering if anyone here had any experience w/ one.

Is there something comparable to the idea? I really like the idea of having 4 or 5 fly boxes attached to your chest like that.
 
I have a Fye, Richardson, FyteDeck, DownStream and Hatch
and all have there place. The Richardson when you order it you need to have it setup the way you want it as for the Downstream you can add or remove boxes. The FyteDeck is a one box system that you can order other boxes (but on box system) and the Hatch 10 pull open boxes (5 on each side) that I use for poppers and pan fishing. The Richardson and Fye are just Classic chest boxes and you will like it.

Joe E
 
I grew up in Osceola Mills, PA, the town where the Richardson chest fly box originated. The guy who invented it was Rex "Chirp" Richardson. He and his wife, Clara, had what passed for an "outdoor" shop in those days (wayyyyyyyy back in the day) on Front St. He carried guns, ammunition, fishing gear, model airplanes, camping gear, traps, snow shoes, canoes, etc. His major passion was fly fishing, however, and he and his wife tied and sold flies there in his store as well as tying supplies. He designed and built the original chest boxes right there in the store. I remember going in there many times with my dad when I was growing up to buy various fishing stuff including fly tying supplies. We both salivated over the chest boxes but dad never had the spare money to buy one. I lost track of the store when I went off to the service and to college. I remember my Dad telling me that Chirp had passed on to the great catch-n-release stretch in the sky. Shortly thereafter the building that was the store was torn down. It's now a parking lot.
 
Sasquatch,
the original Richardson boxes were made in a little town in Clearfield County ,Pa..Osceola Mills.The company is still around based in Bellfonte,Pa.....http://www.chestflybox.com/
Mr.Richardson passed in the 90's and the building where the boxes were manufactured burned down, the property is now a parking lot and there is a sign about the richardson co.
It is a great idea, and i almost bought one.At the time i was perusing the richardson box, there was another box brought out on the market ..FOW box or Fly On The Water was a really neat box similiar but differnt idea and a few bells and whistles that the Richardson Box didn't have caught my .I didn't buy either,I discovered the Predator Chest Pack,and haven't looked back.
Reson i know about the Richardson Fly Box aside from the website is that my 2 cabins are just down the road from Osceola Mills and I did my homework to find out if this was the Richardson Chest Fly Box co. For the Life of me i couldn't figure out how a flyfishing company would be found in an area{county} that has had its streams devastated by Man thru #1 Old Growth forests being leveled, then coal was found{bituminous}and the pillage continued thru deep mining, then strip mining,now Damn Marcellus garbage.Anyhow its only 25 minutes to Lil J,15 minutes to Black Moshannon, 10 minutes to Cold stream,25 minutes to the West Branch Susquehanna, 30 minutes to spring Creek, an hour to Fishing Creek{Lamar}ect.
Tight Wraps & Tight Lines
Rick Wallace
 
Yes, I have one. See avatar. Yes, I love it. No, I will never wear a vest again.

Pricy though. I think it's a little higher quality materials/craftsmanship than the Downs. But the Downs boxes are significantly cheaper and actually have more functionality with the ability to remove trays. If I had to do it over it'd be a tough decision.

For what it's worth, yes, you have a lot of customization you can do when you order. And yeah, you can never really change the # of trays. But no, you aren't set in stone. For instance I got mine with strip foam throughout. Except, I didn't like the foam or how it was spaced. I ripped it all out and replaced it all with C&F slit foam of the size and spacing I wanted. PERFECT.

Love my Richardson, though.
 
Lonewolve - As difficult as it may be to believe that the area of central PA around Osceola Mills had any amount of decent trout water, the streams you named, especially Cold Stream and the Black Moshannon, were the streams I grew up fishing and the ones where I learned to fly fish. I caught the first trout I ever caught on Cold Stream, above the Philipsburg Resevoir in an area then,as probably now, only had wild brookies and required a hike of what seemed to be 10 miles to my 10 year old legs but was probably no more than 3/4. I caught my first trout on a fly (that my dad tied) on the Black Moshannon.

That area took a heavy, heavy hit from the soft coal mining industry. There were a number of places where you could look to the horizon in any direction and see nothing but the spoil piles from the strip mines. It looked quite a bit like the moon. The number of beautiful streams that ran red with acid mine drainage from the strip mines, the drift mines, and the deep mines was and remains a crime, and I found it difficult to understand that anyone would have been allowed to do that. The stream that runs through Osceola Mills, aptly named the "Red" Moshannon, has been red at least since the end of the 19th century. A lot of the "moon" was cleaned up after the Surface Mining Act was passed and the area was re-stripped, contour back filled, and planted. That also cleaned up some of the acid mine drainage tho not nearly enough of it. The area is now in the thrall of the Marcellus shale natural gas rush and the land will likely be raped yet again, for the third time.
 
IIRC Fly Fisher's Paradise in State College carries these boxes...I think they have the Joe Humphreys models. I looked at one through the glass case until I saw the price tag. I still want one though.
 
Yeah, I ordered mine through FFP. They have some in stock all the time. If they don't have them customized how you want, you can order through them and they'll take care of everything, even have it delivered to your door when done. It is nice, when ordering, to be able to actually see the various options in person instead of choosing from a website sight unseen. I don't think going through FFP changed the price at all.

Backlog was a few months if I recall, I'm sure it varies a lot though.
 
Cool product, cool stories too.

I'm considering the Downs one. Some day I'll have a Richardson, but this will do for now.
 
I own the Downs and will never look back. (a little unfair though because I worked for Hille's at the time.)
 
I like my downs a lot, got it at Hille's a few years back.
 
I grew up in Clearfield County also. In a little town called Hawk Run.

I learned to fly fish on the same streams that Mcneishm did. Cold Stream was always my favorite.

I had a neighbor who mentored me in fly fishing and tying. He always used a Richardson Box that he bought from Chirp. I have always wanted to buy one but never get around to it.

Chest boxes always seemed to make great sense.


Shock
 
While the Richardson in very nice - I'll put in another vote for the Downs Box. I bought mine in 1984 and it's still going strong.
 
turkey wrote:
IIRC Fly Fisher's Paradise in State College carries these boxes...I think they have the Joe Humphreys models. I looked at one through the glass case until I saw the price tag. I still want one though.
I have one of each. My Richardson is the 4 tray deluxe I bought from FFP. I LOVE it. The Downs I bought a 5 tray from E Hille's. I LOVE it too. They are both nice. The last time I was at FFP I did'nt see any Richardsons in Steve's display case. I asked him about it and he told me that the company was dissolved and the partnership was defunct. That unless they resolved the differences the company was done. I replied in jest "Well there goes my lifetime warranty" I hope those fellas work it out. It would be a shame to lose such a quality product.
 
Wild Tiger,

Paraphrasing a note on their website, yes, one partner has dropped out. The remaining partner will continue to make them out of his house, which is how it was done for many years. During the transition, newly placed orders may take longer to fill. But they are taking orders.

Steve's usually pretty up to date on these kind of happenings, so it may have been up in the air when you talked to him and a settled matter now.

I see both the Richardson and the Downs as similar and excellent products. I couldn't live without a chest box, honestly, it was the best FF purchase I ever made. Most people either love em or hate em, there doesn't seem to be any in betweens. I, obviously, love em.
 
pcray1231 wrote:
Wild Tiger,

Paraphrasing a note on their website, yes, one partner has dropped out. The remaining partner will continue to make them out of his house, which is how it was done for many years. During the transition, newly placed orders may take longer to fill. But they are taking orders.

Steve's usually pretty up to date on these kind of happenings, so it may have been up in the air when you talked to him and a settled matter now.

I see both the Richardson and the Downs as similar and excellent products. I couldn't live without a chest box, honestly, it was the best FF purchase I ever made. Most people either love em or hate em, there doesn't seem to be any in betweens. I, obviously, love em.
Me too! Best purchase for FF I ever made. :-D
 
The Down’s biggest advantage is you can remove and replace boxes at will. The most I have ever used at one time was 6 and that is just too many for me anyway. My Richardson has 3 boxes with two of the boxes having the foam insert system so I can change them out. However, I would have liked them to offer a case for the foam system so the inserts don’t get beat up in the truck when not in use. The Richardson however is just plain classic.

Joe e
 
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